Duquesne Named No. 4 Among Best Value Private Law Schools

September 5, 2013

Duquesne University has been ranked No. 4 among Best Value Private Law Schools according to The National Jurist, which publishes the rankings "to identify and recognize law schools that help students pass the bar exam and land jobs without burdening them with huge debt."

"We are honored that National Jurist magazine has selected Duquesne among the top-five Best Value private law schools in the United States," said Law Dean Ken Gormley. "We have worked hard to keep our tuition affordable, while increasing our scholarship funds available to students and providing them with a top-notch legal education that makes them competitive on the Bar Exam and successful in the legal marketplace."

Tuition, debt and cost of living figures were compared with percent employed and bar pass rates as part of the ranking. Data for the rankings is based on the Class of 2012. The top five ranked law schools have indebtedness less than $105,000 and met all other criteria. National Jurist applied a weighting system to determine each eligible school's ranking, with Brigham Young University topping the list.

"With rising tuition, it has become increasingly difficult for private law schools to make the Best Value list," said Jack Crittenden, editor in chief for The National Jurist. "But some schools have made great strides to keep debt low through scholarships, even if tuition is high. We felt it was important to recognize the schools that deliver excellent results and have a lower debt load than most private law schools."

The overall rankings will be released in the October issue of The National Jurist, due out in the last week of September. Other law schools in the top 5 include Baylor University (no. 2), Notre Dame (no. 3) and Hamline University (no. 5).

The National Jurist created the Best Value rankings in 2004 as a way to honor schools that took the cost of legal education seriously.

"It's wonderful to have this sort of national recognition for the great strides we've taken at Duquesne to create a first-rate law school that focuses on putting its students first," said Gormley.

Duquesne University

Founded in 1878, Duquesne is consistently ranked among the nation's top Catholic research universities for its award-winning faculty and tradition of academic excellence. The University is nationally ranked by U.S. News and World Report and the Princeton Review for its rich academic programs in nine schools of study for nearly 10,000 graduate and undergraduate students, and by the Washington Monthly for service and contributing to students' social mobility. Duquesne is a member of the U.S. President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction for its contributions to Pittsburgh and communities around the globe. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Princeton Review's Guide to Green Colleges acknowledge Duquesne's commitment to sustainability.